"But I love people I work with." "It's so convenient." "The money's pretty decent, considering…"

I've heard all excuses. Hell, I've made them. You know that job is sucking your soul and it's time to leave. The only thing left to decide is how.

Above all, you want it to be your decision. Don't let boredom and apathy lead to an attitude that gets you fired or passed over. Who wants to work with a burnout no matter how skilled they are?

The number one reason people stay in bad jobs is fear of unknown. Are you hanging on to something that doesn't fit just because it's familiar? What if unknown wasn't scary? What if it was filled with joy and delightful possibilities? Sure, there's that transition period where you leave what you can do in your sleep and head into new territory. I assure you that downhill slide of staying too long is far greater than steepness of a little learning curve. How might you make unknown territory more comfortable?

1. Make It Known Learn about it. Do research. Talk to people. Do informational interviews. Volunteer, be a trainee. Find ways to educate yourself. Go to school. Hire a trainer. Shine some light on stuff scary ignorance and it's no big deal. If you're drawn to it you probably have a knack.

2. Make It Up There are a lot of successful people in world who just decide that they know what they're doing. I'll never forget my friend Susan, a beautiful and confident woman who discovered her gift for public speaking in Toastmaster's and went on to become a highly paid consultant just because she decided she was worth listening to. I had just finished grad school and was trying to get my nerve up to go pitch companies. She read a book or two, made a presentation, and was suddenly crossing country getting big fees. There's a lot to be said for chutzpah.

Can you confidently walk up to someone and start a conversation? Do you know how to evaporate a silent pause? If you answered yes, you are not alone!

Many people struggle with starting conversations. Unfortunately, this leads to poor social skills, uncomfortable pauses, and boring conversations!

That's bad news. The good news is that anyone can learn how to start conversations and keep them going. You just need right tools.

Think a moment. If I gave you a birthday candle and a couple matches, you could easily light candle. However, with no matches it would be nearly impossible!

So also starting a conversation can be tough if you don't have matches. However, with right matches or conversation starters, you can quickly strike up a conversation.

Conversation matches come in form of conversation starter questions. Whip out one of these questions or conversation starters and you can start a conversation with virtually anyone!

One question can start a conversation with a complete stranger. Using a conversation starter with your coworker or classmate can lead to several minutes of enjoyable conversation.

Here are a few conversation starters which are proven to work for starting conversations. Memorize them and use them.

* Conversation Starters for Strangers

What works good with strangers is to ask about something around you. Here are a few examples:

=> To a clerk: Has it been a busy today? => To a airline passage: How often do you fly? => To a classmate: How are you enjoying class?